21st Century Teaching

The school I work at is adopting the idea of becoming a 21st century school, that does not mean one to one computers or anything, but rather just making students aware of what it out there and prepared for what the business world and job market is like after high school. I am a huge fan of 21st century teaching, in fact this blog all started because of it, however I am not a fan of it when the tools for teaching in the 21st century are limited because of policies and political fears. As an avid user of social networking sites, including Twitter and Facebook, I see the benefits and positive things that they have brought to the global market. Some of the people on these sites offer great avenues of getting into and understanding the world outside of what majority of students are used too. Unfortunately, at the same time when these communication devices are not readily available and/or we are asked to not use them as communication devices for students, it becomes frustrating and in my opinion makes the ideas of the 21st century student in the global market null and void. As educators we are taught to be aware of the ethics and values that coincide with the job that we have, being aware of trending topics, global activity, and even what students are dealing with on a daily basis. What I feel is that sometimes the people are at a level so much higher then the students and they have forgotten what it is like to be a high school student. Students are more apt to tell their emotions and fears on a status update than in a journal a teacher reads in class. I know that there should be a level of discretion and some editing that needs to exist, but doesn't that happen in the classroom anyway? I mean if i need to get my lesson's down to 140 characters so my students can comprehend it I will, because I am now on their level and they are more willing to learn outside of the classroom. I guarantee you the students will remember if i tweet a line from the Shakespeare play, rather than if I have the memorize it. There are lines that a teacher needs to be aware of, I understand that, but being asked to teach in the 21st century but then not be allowed to use the necessary tools is frustrating. I guess it is just a new challenge to find another way to make students excited about their education.